1. A disappointing loss and another injury. Is it time to hit the panic button in South Orange?
We're never one to smash the "In case of emergency" glass this early in the season -- particularly in the Big East -- but Seton Hall has a real problem now with Brandon Mobley potentially out for the remainder of the season with a separated shoulder. While Mobley is scheduled for a MRI on Monday, Willard said "it doesn't look good." That further depletes and already depleted Pirate front-court, which -- oh by the way -- has a starting center playing through a nagging right ankle injury. Without Mobley in there, the load will fall on Haralds Karlis for the time being, which is a problem because Karlis is vastly undersized to play the 4-spot in this league. Seton Hall will either have to go as big as it can -- playing Eugene Teague, Kevin Johnson, Fuquan Edwin, Aaron Cosby and Kyle Smyth for now -- or try and run a smaller, guard-oriented lineup. The problem there is there's no true point guard capable enough to orchestrate that kind of offense on Seton Hall's roster. That's why it's shaping up to be a recipe for disaster for the Pirates.

2. Is there any help on the way?
Right now, Brian Oliver is the closest thing to a cavalry that Seton Hall has right now -- and he's not due back for another 10 days. Oliver is still dealing with a right ankle sprain that is still swollen and hasn't gotten better since the beginning of last week. The problem is that once Oliver returns -- and if his ankle is still swollen somewhat as of Sunday, that targeted return date of Jan. 23 by Willard is looking more in doubt -- he'll be playing out of position as well. Oliver is a natural 3, playing in the 4-spot because of the season-ending injury to Patrik Auda. If Mobley, too, is done for the season, then Oliver will have to almost exclusively play the 4, which means less chances to get his offense going. So, you see, Oliver's return is more of a band-aid than a solution.

3. Can anything be done to change this?
Bottom line: Seton Hall is going to have to get crafty. Think of it this way -- the Pirates have become that aging former star pitcher who is in his final season, knows he doesn't have his best stuff anymore and has to start out-smarting hitters instead of overpower them. Willard's superb strategic planning is certainly going to be put to the test for the remainder of the season -- if Mobley is done. Whether that means adjusting offensive schemes, playing more zone or even asking players to sacrifice parts of their game to make things work. Sophomore guard Aaron Cosby even hinted at this after the game, saying that he's going to have to learn how to box out bigger players in order to open up lanes for rebounding. Thinking like that won't win all the games for Seton Hall, but it might give them a shot at some.

GAME BALLSFuquan Edwin (17 pts., 7 reb., 2 stl.): Has to get one almost by default, because he actually ended up having a decent afternoon shooting the basketball. Finally found a rhythm late in the first half when Seton Hall figured out how Providence was defending. But played with foul trouble for most of the game and limited what he can do.Haralds Karlis (11 pts., 4 reb., 2 ast.): Game ball debut for Karlis, who actually played a pretty decent 34 minutes after Brandon Mobley went down for the game. He's certainly going to be undersized and out-of-position if he has to do more time at the 3- or 4-spots, but Karlis gave it all he had. Can't ask for much more.Bryce Cotton (23 pts., 9 reb.): We should all have knee injuries like this.

SUICIDESEugene Teague (6 pts., 5 reb., 4 TOs): We've now been able to see it in two games -- there is a major concern about Teague when he's handling the ball in traffic in the paint. When he's pressured, his first instinct is to put the ball on the floor and try and make multiple moves to get out of it. That's not going to work in the Big East. By dropping an extra defender or two on top of him in that scenario, teams are going to easily be able to strip the ball, force a travel or have him step on the baseline. That's 15 turnovers in four league games. Coming into conference play, Teague had 33 turnovers in 13 games.Providence offense: Might seem silly to get on the offense of the team that ended up winning on the road, but fact is, the Friars struggle for a reason. Cotton had a great afternoon, three others scored in double-figures and LaDontae Henton had a double-double. Yet, a Seton Hall team that was worn down mentally and physically and couldn't hit a shot, only lost by 10. This was a game where a marginally decent offensive team has a solid and consistent 20-plus point advantage.Seton Hall: Much like its Big East neighbor to the south the night before, the Pirates suffered from what ailed Rutgers in its loss to Cincinnati Saturday night. Providence didn't just take advantage of second-chance opportunities, it created extra ones. The Pirates were on the wrong end of multiple extended possessions where a Providence player just out-hustled on a play.

NEWS, NOTES AND QUOTESThe News
Some other non-Brandon Mobley injury news: Freshman center Kevin Johnson, who recently went arthroscopic knee surgery on Dec. 26 to repair an issue with his right meniscus, saw limited action on Sunday. That's because after playing his first significant minutes since returning, Johnson's knee swelled back up and he was unable to practice. Willard said it probably won't stop being an issue until Seton Hall can get a few days to a week off of practice and not moving as much.

Former Seton Hall great Nick Werkman was honored during a media timeout in the first half. Fans entering the Prudential Center were given white towels with "Nick the Quick #44" on them for Nick Werkman Day. The Trenton native led the nation in scoring during his sophomore season in 1963 and is among the Pirates' all-time leading scorers.

The NotesFirst off, an update on former Seton Hall guard Freddie Wilson who left the Pirates after non-conference play. Wilson is reportedly transferring to Drexel down in Philadelphia. ... Much like metropolitan area Big East compadres, Rutgers and St. John's, Seton Hall struggled mightily in the first half, scoring just 22 points. Against Cincinnati, Rutgers scored 15, while St. John's scored 19 against Georgetown. ... At one point midway through the first half, the Pirates had 12 turnovers and zero assists. ... For the season, Seton Hall is pretty much dead-even when it comes to assists and turnovers, as well. With Sunday's totals now in the books, the Pirates have turned it over 268 times on the season while dishing out 265 assists. ... With Sunday's win, Providence takes the lead in the overall series, 46-45.

The Quotes
"That's half our issue, offensively right now. We make one sub and you've got a guy that's more than likely not used to doing what he's supposed to be doing right now. It's tough to get more simply than we're trying to be. Again, we're limping into this bye week. We really need this because we need some time to work on things. And hopefully heal some guys."
-- WILLARD on the having to adjust to his remaining personnel

"It's a point of emphasis and that's all we talked about. Going after the glass with reckless abandon and be as physical as we need to be and let the whistle be what it is."
-- ED COOLEY on pulling down 22 offensive rebounds.

"They just manhandled us today on the glass. That's how there were able to pull away with the game. Every time they got a shot off, they just got the rebound."
-- EDWIN on Seton Hall's trouble on the offensive glass

"They just flat out-played us. They wanted it more. They beat us to every loose ball, killed us on the glass. We allowed the defensive pressure to dictate our offense and they just flat-out out-played us in the first half."
-- COSBY on Providence's defensive effort in the first half

"The only thing I'm concerned about right now? Winning."
-- KARLIS on trying to adjust to other teams now

RIDICULOUS STAT OF THE GAME
56.4
Surprisingly, when you look at the box score from Sunday's game, the Friars actually shot six percentage point less than the Pirates -- despite winning the game by 12. But the reason why Providence was able to overcome that, was because of its offensive rebounding. Providence out-rebounded Seton Hall 22-10 on the offensive glass. But most impressively, were able to get offensive rebounds on 56.4 percent of its missed shots on the day. That's an almost unheard of number in college basketball.